Nawras runs customer services for Oman’s new mobile service on Microsoft technology

Microsoft creates highly integrated, state-of-the-art infrastructure to allow Nawras to offer superior customer service to its new customers

Nawras, Oman’s newest mobile operator, is relying on Microsoft technology to help provide superior service to its new customers. The mobile operator, which launched its commercial services on 16th March 2005, has deployed a range of Microsoft solutions that will assist Nawras in connecting up new customers and managing their customer services.

Microsoft has rolled out Contact Center Framework (CCF), a unique, highly integrated solution designed specifically for telecoms providers to help them manage their customer service. CCF was deployed at Nawras by Microsoft Consulting Services, working with Microsoft partner Mahindera British Telecom. The solution uses Microsoft .NET and BizTalk Server to link the telecom service, customer services web site, billing systems and other applications into a single system for Nawras’ customer service agents, enabling them to manage all the elements of the service they provide to their Nawras Mousbak (pre-paid) customers through one interface.

“As a new player in the mobile market, Nawras required solutions that would help us to manage all the different aspects of providing an excellent service to our customers. From the start, Microsoft showed an understanding of our industry and the ability to provide a single, one-stop-shop solution that gives us complete management of our customer contact,” said Peter Rubeck Chief Technical Officer, Nawras.

“With CCF, our customer service champions have a single desktop application through which they can administer all aspects of our interaction with our users, from troubleshooting a technical problem, to connecting a new mobile to the network. This solution will allow us to provide the highest level of customer service and satisfaction to our valued customers, providing us with real advantage compared to local competition,” Rubeck added.

Along with the CCF solution, Microsoft applications are running a number of other crucial business systems for Nawras. The Nawras website, which includes customer self-help services is using Microsoft Content Management Server, and a trouble ticketing system, which alerts Nawras when a user needs a customer service agent to contact them for support, that has been developed by Microsoft partner Vertscape.

To enable Nawras’ retail partners to set up new users with their mobile service, a dealer activation system, which was also created by Vertscape using Microsoft .NET technology and the Microsoft Retail Management System (MRMS), has been rolled out to shops across the sultanate. The customer simply fills in the necessary forms, hands them to the retailer who scans them in to a system which automatically captures the data and submits it to Nawras, ready to activate the account.

“Microsoft’s solution was also very quick to deploy, we rolled out seven different systems simultaneously, and we were able to roll them out in just five months, helping us to be ready to go to market with our mobile services on schedule. The level of support from Microsoft and its EMEA telecoms team and from the partners who collaborated on this project, will allow us to really drive our services to the customers without having to worry about our infrastructure solutions,” Rubeck added.

Microsoft solutions are also powering Nawras’ internal systems too. Microsoft Office System provides employees with productivity and collaboration tools, while an employee intranet, based on Microsoft Sharepoint Portal Server, will also help Nawras’ staff to work more efficiently. Microsoft Operations Manager 2004 helps the company’s IT staff to manage and administer the company’s network.

“This project really shows the value of both Microsoft’s technology and of our partner network. Microsoft’s BizTalk and the .NET platform, enabled us and our partners to create a highly flexible, highly customized solution that fits with many different aspects of Nawras’ operations, while giving the company the ability to expand however it wishes,” said Microsoft.

“With more countries in the Middle East opening up to competition in the telecommunications sector, we expect to see a growth in demand for solutions that can give new operators everything they need to support their operations in a cost effective, easily deployed package. We are very proud of the solution that we developed with our partners, and we look forward to building our relationship with Nawras as it builds and grows its business with its new customers,” Microsoft added.

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